


Baby Bird

by ANormalTiger



Category: Marvel (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, F/M, Kid Fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-04-29
Updated: 2013-05-08
Packaged: 2017-12-09 21:12:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/778038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ANormalTiger/pseuds/ANormalTiger
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While on a mission, Clint is attacked with a chemical weapon that has rather interesting effects. With Natasha preparing to leave on another mission and Phil overwhelmed with paperwork, the Avengers are left to deal with a child-sized version of their friend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Baby Bird

Coulson pinches the bridge of his nose and clenches his eyes shut. He isn't sure what to do about the current situation. Barton's gotten himself into another mess, though Coulson knows it's not entirely his agent's fault. SHIELD had trusted what turned out to be faulty intel. That mistake had nearly cost them one of their best agents. Luckily, medical has since cleared him.

There's a soft groan and shifting that alerts Coulson to Clint's waking. The agent is settled on the couch in Coulson's office with a pile of blankets settled on top of him. In his state, Coulson had thought it best not to leave him alone. 

Coulson holds his breath, hopes Clint settles back down. He's not prepared to deal with him just yet.

Clint appears to settle back into sleep, and Coulson lets out the breath he's been holding. Now if the agent could just stay unconscious until he's figured out what to do with him. Coulson would take care of him, if he weren't spread so thin already. He's having to deal with the death of two top agents as well as the incapacitation of one of SHIELD's best (the sleeping agent on his couch), while having to keep up with all his regular duties. 

His options are limited, as he doesn't trust a lot of people with Clint. A soft knock at his door draws him out of his thoughts, and he looks up to see Natasha entering the room. She closes the door behind her silently as she watches Clint sleep. "Have you figured out what to do with him while he's... in this state?" She asks. 

Coulson sighs. "No, and I need you for the mission tomorrow." He's already tried to find another agent that might be suitable, but he'd been unsuccessful. Somewhere he knows that part of him hadn't wanted to find anyone else. The mission is key to finding a way to help Clint, and he knows that Natasha is the best at gathering information. "And I don't want to alert Bruce to the situation."

The mixture of a small child and Bruce concerns him. There are too many things that could go wrong, and, given Clint's history, it's just not safe. He could stay here at SHIELD, but he'd go mostly neglected. He's thought about having a nurse at medical look after him, but Clint hates medical. Coulson doesn't trust any other agent to take care of him, but he's desperate enough he's thought about asking Fury. Fury, at least, wouldn't hurt him, but he'd probably forget about him. Natasha would have been his number one choice, but he can't do anything about that. He'd do it himself, if he weren't so busy. He doesn't have time to attend to Clint's needs right now; something he feels guilty about. He wishes he could take care of him.

"How do you think he's going to react when Clint's still not home several days after he's supposed to have returned?" Natasha asks. As much as the Hulk concerns her, she feels like it's the best bet. Besides, Bruce is living in the Avengers' tower. There are several others there to help if anything goes wrong. JARVIS would be an excellent way of keeping tabs on Clint, and Pepper would most likely be a lot of help with her experience in taking care of a petulant child. 

Coulson frowns. He's considered it, of course. Bruce is Clint's boyfriend after all, but the idea of it scares him. Still, he knows it's his best option, but it worries him. He's scared to just let him go like that, but he knows he really doesn't have much of a choice. If only Natasha could stay. "Can you handle making sure the Avengers know what they're taking on? I'm not asking you to share his past with them, but I want it to be understood that they cannot mistreat him in _any_ way."

Natasha nods her head. She has plenty of time between now and tomorrow to talk to them and make sure everything's set for Clint. "Can you keep him for the night?" She asks, needing the chance to prepare the Avengers for Clint's arrival. 

Clint chooses that moment to bolt off the couch and move for the nearest corner. His eyes are wide and alert. It's only the second time he's woken up since he'd been turned, and medical had warned Coulson that he'd been pretty agitated then. It's no surprise that he is now.

His little fingers are pressed flat against the walls on either side of him, and he looks like a trapped animal. Both Natasha and Coulson feel their hearts twist painfully at seeing their friend, now several years younger than he'd been just the day before, looking so terrified in their presence. 

Natasha takes a couple of steps forward, careful with her movements. She crouches down, still several feet away from the small agent. "It's okay," she says softly. She can hear Coulson moving behind her, his chair moving against the floor as he stands. Clint tenses in front of her. 

"Don't," she says and turns her head slightly so both know who she's directing the command to. 

Coulson settles back in his seat and watches. Clint eases a little, but not by much. It hurts to see the little boy so afraid of him. For a moment, he's reminded of a young Clint, not as young as the one in front of him now, but he'd still been afraid then. By the time Coulson had found him, Clint showed fear very differently than he is showing now. Coulson had been sure to show the boy nothing but kindness, even when Clint had absolutely shredded his nerves. To know he'd just caused one of the closest people to him distress, simply by his presence, has to be its own kind of torture.

Natasha focuses her attention on Clint. She's not exactly trained to deal with children, but she knows Clint like the back of her hand, and she also knows that a younger Clint is more likely to warm up to her than a man. While adult Clint trusts Coulson with his life, this Clint knows nothing but pain caused by men meant to protect him. 

Part of her hopes that this little Clint might even recognize them to some degree. If he calms down, he might feel comfortable around them, but she knows she can't rely on that. She's dealing with a child who has been abused, something she knows all too well, and she knows she needs to tread carefully. 

"I'm sorry. Don't tell my pa," he says, eyes looking around like he's trying to figure out how to escape. 

"I would never do that," Natasha tells him. She couldn't, but she wouldn't even consider it anyways. 

Clint doesn't look convinced, and she holds back a sigh. She doesn't need to upset him any further. "We're in New York right now. Do you know where that is?" She asks. When he shakes his head, she continues, "It's very far away from your pa."

Clint seems to accept this. He turns his attention to Coulson and points at him before asking, "Who's he?"

"He's a really good friend of mine," she watches as Clint unglues himself from the wall. He still doesn't move any closer. "His name is Phil. Mine's Natasha."

"I'm Clint," he says with the slightest of smiles. He doesn't look as afraid, and his little body eases some. She wonders how many people Clint had trusted like this and had later turned around and hurt him. He's young enough now that she's hopeful that he's trusting enough to let the Avengers take care of him if she promises him they will be nice. 

She nods and smiles back, "Are you hungry, Clint?"

It's his turn to nod. He bites his lip and adds, "A bit."

"Alright. Let's go get food. Phil here has to do a couple of other things so we can have a place for you to stay." Clint looks concerned for a moment, but his hunger seems to be at the front of his mind. He moves over to her and resists the urge to hold his arms out. He's still tired, and he doesn't know how far away the food is, but he doesn't want to do anything to upset the kind lady. 

Natasha smiles apologetically at Phil. She'd been completely prepared to deal with the Avengers, but she needs to make sure Clint understands he's in a safe place now, and trying to leave him right now wouldn't be a good idea. She knows from her own experience that it's hard to connect to people after being hurt for so long, and she knows Clint had difficulty developing a friendship with Coulson when they first met. She considers this nothing more than childlike trust, and it's not something she wants to risk messing up.

She leads him from Clint's office to the cafeteria, keeping an eye on him the entire time. He's fidgety, and he'll occasionally open his mouth like he's going to say something. Every time he closes his mouth again. She considers asking him questions, to spark a conversation, but she doesn't want to ask the wrong question. 

The cafeteria is relatively empty, but all the food choices are just high enough that he can't get a good look. "Is it okay if I pick you up?" She asks. He nods once, and she scoops him up and places him on her hip. Medical says he's between the ages of five and six but he's fairly small. 

He peers at the options curiously, not sure how much to ask for. 

"Anything look good?" She asks, trying to encourage a response. 

"The burger," he points towards the burger. 

"Do you want fries?" He nods his head, but he scrunches his nose up like he's unsure. "What's wrong?"

"Too much."

"We can split it in half," she offers. Come to think of it, she's yet to eat today. She'd been with Fury earlier, debriefing from the last mission. With Coulson busy, she had to report to the Director.

Natasha sets him down so she can take the plate of food offered to her by one of the workers. Sometime between then and their sitting down, a cookie appears on the plate. She can’t help but smile at that. All of maybe five or six years-old, and he’s still sneaky. 

While they’re eating, she asks a couple of questions, trying to encourage a conversation. She’s careful about what she asks, and apparently she says something right. The conversation ignites at some point, and Clint starts chattering away about anything and everything with a big grin on his face. She does her best to keep up and interact, wanting to keep the conversation going. She’s concerned about saying or reacting the wrong way to something he says. She doesn’t want him to crawl right back in his shell. From what Coulson and Clint have told her about their initial meet, when Clint had been fairly young, he’d been much harder to get to open up than this. She wonders if their little connection now has anything to do with her relationship to his older counterpart. 

He’s energetic, like she’d expected a child Clint would be. Adult Clint is downright miserable when he has nothing to do. He’s tense and can be grumpy. Now, he’s still fidgety and tens, but she can tell he wants to play. 

-*-

Coulson looks up when there's a knock on the door. "Come in," he says. He's already talked to Stark about the situation. Thor's in Asgard, thankfully. Phil really doesn't think that would be a good combination. Pepper is aware of the situation as well, having been there when Coulson had called Stark. She seems pretty eager to have a little kid to look after. With her experience with Stark, all should go just fine. Steve shouldn't be a problem, but he does still want to talk to him about the situation. He hasn't gotten to him yet. Bruce knows nothing, still. Coulson can only hope he gets to talk to him before Stark does, though he supposes it doesn't really matter where the information comes from at this point. 

When Natasha steps through the door, she actually looks somewhat worn out. Coulson can't help but raise an eyebrow at that. It's not until he gets a better view of the lump curled up against her side that he understands. Clint's clearly asleep, having worn both himself and Natasha out. "Outdone by a five year-old, Agent Romanoff?"

She gives a small smirk at that. "I'd like to see you try to keep up with him." She puts the boy down on the couch and covers him up with one of the blankets.

"Maybe he'll sleep through the night then. Tomorrow's going to be hard on him," Phil says, eyes trained on Clint. 

"Did you talk to Stark?" Natasha asks, settling herself in one of the chairs in front of Coulson's desk. 

"Yes, and he says he'll have orders set for JARVIS to keep an eye on Clint _and_ Bruce. He thinks the whole thing is amusing, but I warned him to take care of Clint." Natasha can't help but think that Phil more likely threatened some not so pleasant things. He might not be the most intimidating looking agent, but he's terrifying when he wants to be. He's also good at following through on threats.

"Pepper seems excited by the whole thing," he adds, drawing Natasha out of her thoughts. 

"That's good," Natasha says and glances at Clint. "Maybe he'll warm up to her." If Pepper can handle Tony Stark, she can certainly handle a five year-old version of Clint, no matter how damaged the little boy. Though Natasha has her suspicions about Tony's own past, which puts her a little more at ease that the couple will be good to Clint. Still, she can't help but hate the idea of leaving him. Phil probably feels worse for it. 

"Maybe. I haven't talked to Banner yet-"

"I can do that," Natasha tells him. "I can go do that now. Better to do it in person anyways."

"If you're sure."

"I am," Natasha looks at Clint one more time. He's tuckered out, and, with any luck, he'll sleep through the night, without nightmares. Medical had told her that the previous night had been rather unpleasant. They had wanted to keep him overnight for observation, to make sure the whole 'de-aged' thing, as they called it, hadn't done anything more harmful to Clint. It hadn't, luckily, but little Clint had nightmares and panicked when only strangers were present to comfort him. 

She heads off without letting herself think on the situation much more. Phil is fully capable of taking care of Clint.


	2. Telling Bruce

Finding Bruce isn’t too difficult. Not unlike Tony, he spends a lot of time in his lab, which Tony had built in the tower. Tony had also made it Hulk-proof, just in case. Actually, there are a lot of things in the tower that are Hulk-proof. Many of those things have been tested more by Thor’s destructive tendencies than the Hulk’s. 

When Natasha slips into the lab, he’s clearly distracted by whatever he’s working on. By the looks of him, she doubts he’s left his lab all day. “Bruce,” she says just loud enough to be heard. She doesn’t want to surprise him. 

“Just a second,” he says in a way that sounds automatic, like he hasn’t truly registered that anyone else is in the room with him. He finishes writing something out on a notepad and puts his pen down. “What can I do for you?” He asks as he turns around. 

Natasha smiles, trying to be friendly. It really isn’t that hard to be friendly with Bruce, but it is a bit more difficult when she knows that she’s about to be the one to break some- ‘complicated’ news to him. It’s not necessarily bad, but it is complicated. “Something happened to Clint,” she starts, but she doesn’t even have the chance to say another word before she can see the change. His warm, pleasant demeanor drops. Fear and worry take its place. 

“What happened?” He demands, voice a little shaky as he does so. 

“He’s fine, Bruce,” she clarifies. She knows she should have started this a little better, but it’s hard enough to find the most appropriate way of telling someone’s lover their partner is now five years-old. 

“What happened?” 

His voice is more aggressive this time, and Natasha feels her heart speed up for a moment. It’s silly and childish; she knows it is, but she can’t help it. “In his last mission, he was attacked with an unknown chemical weapon. It has affected him in a rather unique way,” she says, getting as much out as she can before he interrupts her again, but she falls short when she still can’t find the words to describe Clint’s ‘condition’. “Bruce, Clint’s a child.”

Bruce raises an eyebrow. “Yes, I know that.” Clint could be fairly childish, but what does that have to do with being affected by a chemical weapon? Is he giving the doctors trouble? Is that why she’s here, to see if he can get Clint to cooperate? Admittedly, it’s not the first time someone from SHIELD has asked him to come for that very reason, but it’s usually when Phil’s too busy and Natasha’s in the field. So why would Natasha even be here?

“No,” she shakes her head. “I mean he is a child. The chemical, whatever it was, has turned him into a child. Medical estimates that he’s between the ages of five and six years-old.”

Bruce blinks a couple of time as he tries to process the situation. He doesn’t know what to say or do in response to that kind of statement. He feels like it has to be some kind of joke, but he knows that Natasha doesn’t joke about this kind of thing. Her body language and tone only solidify that thought. She’s clearly concerned, for Clint. Bruce can always see that in her. The two assassins are incredibly close, something that Bruce envies a little bit. She wouldn’t joke about something happening to Clint, especially not to Bruce. Besides, how can he really doubt anything after the most recent events in New York? “Can I see him?” He asks after several long moments of silence. 

“He’s being brought here tomorrow. I have to leave on a mission then, and Coulson doesn’t have the time to take care of him,” or he would, are the unspoken words there. It hurts Bruce in a way, but he knows Natasha doesn’t mean it like that. “He’s being left in your custody. The others are going to help as well, and they’ve all been briefed on the situation.”

Bruce nods. “I guess I should get some stuff then.” The Tower certainly isn’t equipped with things necessary for a five year-old boy. Clint has his own room with a bed. He can change the sheets and pick up the room, remove anything dangerous, but he needs clothes and toys for Clint. Bow and arrows aren’t exactly suitable for Clint in his current state. 

“That would be ideal, but I would hold off on the clothes until he gets here.” He raises an eyebrow at that, and she clarifies by adding, “he’s a bit small.” She’d thought Clint was four when she first saw him after the attack. “SHIELD has provided him with pajamas and a set of clothes at the moment, so he’s not in dire need of those anyways.”

Bruce tries not to laugh at that. He has no idea what makes her think one set of clothes will do or a boy with Clint’s hyperactivity. He’s probably already ruined them in the time she’s been here talking to him. “Alright,” he says. The amusement fading as the bizarre reality of the situation settles back in. In the last year, he’s seen weirder things, and yet it’s still difficult for him to wrap his mind around. “Do you know how long this is going to last?”

“No, we don’t really know much about the weapon that was used, but part of my mission tomorrow is to find some answers,” Natasha explains. She doesn’t usually give out information about her missions, but she figures that the information is safe with Bruce. She moves for the door, pausing for a moment. “And Bruce?”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t hurt him,” she turns and walks out, leaving her words somewhat ambiguous. 

Bruce sighs. He’s used to hearing things like that. He tries not to be offended. Everyone in the tower knows he wouldn’t hurt Clint, so long as he could help it. The problem is he can’t control the Big Guy, though, much to everyone’s surprise, the Big Guy seems to be rather fond of Clint ‘Bird Man’ Barton.


	3. Introductions

Clint sleeps through the night, and, by some miracle, he sleeps peacefully. He wakes early the next morning in a room that he doesn’t recognize him. It sets off alarm in him as he looks around. He tries to piece yesterday together. He’d gone to get food with the nice lady, Tasha, and he’d gotten to play too. He doesn’t remember getting in trouble at all, nor does he remember seeing either of his parents. Did they finally send him away? His dad had threatened to send him away before. He’d said the people that Clint would end up with would be even worse than him. 

There’s a soft creaking sound that makes him jump in surprise. His head turns in the direction of the noise. Just a few feet away is a cot that stands only about a foot off the ground. It looks rather uncomfortable. On the cot is the man he’d seen in the office yesterday, before Tasha had taken him to get food. Clint wonders if the man is meaner than his pa. He doesn’t look like it. Besides, why would a mean man let him sleep on the comfortable bed?

Clint tries to remember the man’s name. He remembers Tasha telling him what it is, but he can’t recall it now. He’d been too upset to really pay attention at the time. “Damn,” he huffs, using the word he’s heard from his father dozens of times before. 

He looks around the room a second time. He figures it’s the man’s room, but he still can’t figure out why the man would put him on the big, comfy bed and sleep on the cot. His parents wouldn’t have even bothered with the cot. They would have made him sleep on the floor. 

The stranger groans and stretches his arms and legs out. His eyes open slowly, and he blinks a couple of times. He looks groggy when he speaks, “Clint?”

Clint bites his lip. He doesn’t know what the man’s motives are, but he doesn’t like the situation. “Yeah?” He finally answers, afraid he’ll just get hit if he doesn’t.

“Time’s it?” Phil asks, momentarily forgetting that the Clint he knows isn’t quite there anymore. His mind is still clouded by sleep. 

“I’unno,” Clint shrugs his thin shoulders and hopes the answer won’t get him in trouble. He doesn’t see a clock anywhere, not that he can read them anyways. He’s not smart enough for that according to his pa. 

Phil looks up at him after rubbing his eyes. His lips curl into a small smile when he sees Clint. “Fair enough. It’s early. Couldn’t sleep?” He asks, watching Clint for his reaction. Clint’s small for his age, no doubt something caused by improper care. His hair is cropped short, but that doesn’t stop it from being just as wild as the adult version of himself’s hair. He looks worried, Phil can see it in the boy’s eyes. 

“Not tired,” Clint says and shrugs again. 

“Okay,” Phil says easily. He gets up from the cot and stretches out once more, holding back a groan of discomfort. “You want food?” Clint’s going to need to fill up before going to the Tower. He’s going to need the energy. 

Clint seems to think about his answer for several long moments. He is hungry. His stomach even growls, but he’s not sure he should say ‘yes’. 

“Seems like a yes to me,” Phil says, still smiling. “How about you go brush your teeth and comb your hair. Then we’ll get breakfast, okay? Natasha will be around soon enough, I’m sure. She’s a morning person.” He notices his laptop is still on the floor between the bed and cot. He uses his toe to push it under the cot so Clint doesn’t accidentally step on it. “There’s a new tooth brush in there for you, and I don’t mind you using my comb.”

Clint mumbles a soft ‘okay’ before slipping off the bed and disappearing into the adjoining bathroom. He comes out a few minutes later. His hair is still a mess, but Phil’s sure that’s not for lack of trying.

In the time Clint had gone to the bathroom, Phil had gotten dressed. He’d shower later, when he didn’t have a skittish five year-old in his company. Not to mention, Phil really doesn’t want to find out if this child version has the same tendency to disappear as his adult counterpart. 

At breakfast, Clint says next to nothing. He barely touches his food before declaring himself full. He isn’t making eye contact with Phil or even acknowledging him at all, and he’s becoming increasingly more fidgety. 

“Why’m I here?” Clint finally asks, breaking the silence. His eyes are focused on the floor, probably focused on something Phil’s eyes can’t see. Phil has no doubt that Clint’s eye sight is still exceptional, even at his young age. 

Phil opens his mouth to answer, but he closes it when he realizes he doesn’t actually have an answer, at least not a good one. He can’t exactly tell Clint what’s really happened. “You’re here because you’re very special,” he starts, “So we’re trying to protect you.”

That doesn’t seem to be the best thing he could have said. Clint looks confused and upset. “Nothin’ special ‘bout me.”

Phil ignores the way his heart aches at hearing that. If only Clint knew just how damn special he is to the ones that really matter. “That’s not true,” he says, but he lets the subject drop. “Natasha is taking you to see some friends of ours’. They’re going to take care of you for a little while, okay?”

Clint nods his head. He doesn’t know why Phil bothers asking. He doubts Phil needs his permission to send him off with whomever he deems fit. Maybe these ‘friends’ are the bad people his dad had threatened him with. That makes sense. 

Once they’re both done eating, Phil leads the boy to his office. He wishes he had more to entertain Clint while they wait for Natasha, but all he has is some paper and a couple of different colored pens. Fortunately, that seems to occupy Clint for awhile. 

Natasha comes in thirty minutes later, dressed in civilian clothes. She looks down at where Clint has settled himself, partially pressed up against one of the walls. Unlike other children, he seems to be trying to occupy as little space as possible. “I just got off the phone with Stark. Everything’s ready,” she leaves it vague, not wanting to worry Clint. She can already tell he’s listening, even if he’s pretending not to. 

Phil picks a file up from his desk and hands it to Natasha, “This is for Banner. It’s all the official paper work he’ll need.”

Natasha nods. She moves over to Clint and crouches in front of him. “Would you like to meet some friends of mine?” She tries her best to speak to him on his level, though it’s not entirely easy. Her mind still recognizes the little boy as the adult she knows so well. 

“Okay,” he says. He picks the papers up and tosses them in the trash by Phil’s desk. He puts the pens down on the end of Phil’s desk without saying anything and takes the hand Natasha offers to him.

Natasha sighs inwardly, not understanding the change. She’d gotten Clint to open up a bit yesterday, but now, he seems completely closed off. She doesn’t have a clue how to fix whatever’s causing the change, so she just leads them to the car they’re going to take to the tower. 

The ride there is silent save for Natasha’s few attempts to get the little boy to talk to her. She wants to be able to help before she leaves, but she can’t do anything for him if he won’t let her.

As they approach the tower, she indicates towards it, “That’s where my friends are.” And where Clint will be staying. She continues in her explanation, going on almost like a briefing. She wants him to have as much information as possible. “Tony, Pepper, and Bruce will meet us when we get inside,” she explains while sticking to first names to make it easier and, hopefully, a tad more comfortable. “Pepper has red hair-”

“Like you?” It’s the first thing he’s really said beyond one-worded answers or grunts. 

“Not quite. Her hair is a lot lighter than mine. She’s very kind, and I think you will like her a lot. Bruce has shorter, curlier hair than Tony. He’s also very kind and smart. Tony is the one with the uh-” How to explain an arc reactor to a child that doesn’t even understand a computer? “He has a light in his chest.” Clint just raises an eyebrow in a way that reminds her very much of her friend. “You’ll see,” she murmurs. 

Clint’s a bit awestricken by the inside of the tower. It’s rather large and impressive, and he’s probably never seen anything like it before. She walks at his pace, not minding that it takes them a little longer than usual. She isn’t exactly in the biggest of hurries. She has some time before her mission to do this little custody exchange. 

The first person both of them see is Pepper. Natasha had asked Tony to arrange it that way, thinking it might be easier on Clint. 

Pepper’s in a pair of shorts and a plain t-shirt, and she’s in good spirits. Today’s her day off, so she has nothing to worry about other than Clint (and Tony). Natasha introduces the two. Pepper’s a little excited, and, in her whirlwind of words, has very clearly lost Clint somewhere, but he doesn’t seem intimidated by her, just thoroughly confused. Natasha takes that as a good sign, though she’s not sure what exactly she’d been expecting. Pepper’s easy to be around. 

Tony comes out after a few more minutes. He seems more nervous about Clint’s presence than Clint does about Tony’s. Clint seems to pick up on Tony’s nerves, and it somehow helps him relax a little. He’s still tense, not quite ready to accept that everything is okay as it seems. Natasha can still see that he’s slowly relaxing. It’s small, but she knows this takes time. For someone so young, this is probably a bit overwhelming. The Avengers just have to keep showing him that they aren’t going to hurt him. 

Everything continues to go as smoothly as possible until Bruce comes into the room. Clint’s little body goes completely tense, and he attaches himself to the nearest person, not even caring that it’s Tony that he’s attached to. “No!” He says, barely loud enough to be heard. He’s frantically looking around, trying to figure out an escape. 

Natasha tries to move forward, wanting to help and hoping her somewhat established connection with Clint might help calm him down. When she tries, Clint just pushes himself further into Tony’s leg.

“He’ll hurt me!” Clint whimpers. Images flash through his mind that he can’t make sense of. He sees someone, more like a monster, with green skin. The monster he sees nearly destroys an entire building, reminding Clint of the monsters his brother used to tell him about. While Bruce looks nothing like the monster that he’d seen a flash of, Clint somehow just knows he _is_. 

His father’s voice is in his head, taunting him. It reminds him that this is exactly what he meant by sending him to someone worse. 

Clint clings tighter to Tony, too terrified to even care that Tony’s apparently friends with the monster, and that Tasha is giving him to the monster. He had thought she was good, after yesterday. She had given off a good feeling that he couldn’t quite explain, but he knows he must have been wrong now. It’s stupid to think anybody would ever be nice to him, yet he still can’t let go of Tony. He feels safer with Tony between him and the monster. 

Tony looks completely lost on what to do. He scoops Clint into his arms, holding him easily enough. “It’s okay,” he says softly, not knowing what else to say. The whole situation makes him entirely uncomfortable. He knows about some of Clint’s past. In some ways, they have experienced similar things in life, but it makes him entirely uncomfortable to see Clint like this, to see any child like this. 

Bruce backs up towards the door, eyes never leaving Clint. “I think I should- you know… go.” He turns and leaves before Natasha can finish saying ‘wait’. He’s not about to stay and hurt Clint anymore. 

Natasha turns her head to see Clint’s little arms wrapped tightly around Tony’s neck. His face is buried in the inventor’s shoulder, and he’s shaking just slightly. She has no idea what made him react that way to Bruce, but she can’t do anything to fix the situation for now. The most important thing is that Clint has attached himself to _someone_ , figuratively and literally. 

“I have to go. If necessary, you can contact Coulson to have the paperwork switched,” she hates to sound so cold regarding Clint’s situation, but she needs to get back to headquarters. The faster she does that, the faster she leaves for her mission and maybe finds some way to reverse this. 

It isn’t until Tony hears the door close behind Natasha that he realizes she’s left, having been too caught up in the boy in his arms to have heard her last words. ‘What the hell am I supposed to do with this?’ He mouths to Pepper while indicating to Clint with his free hand. The other is under Clint, supporting his weight. 

Pepper shrugs her shoulders. She really doesn’t have an answer for that. She hadn’t expected Clint to get so upset at seeing Bruce. She whispers, “You’re on your own,” without actually leaving.


End file.
